March 11, 2005 Courier News Martial arts program teaches special-needs children about discipline By KARA L. RICHARDSON Staff Writer MONTGOMERY -- Confidence, self-control and discipline might come naturally for some children, but they can be a challenge for those with emotional special needs such as bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder or eating disorders. Township resident Christine Abrahams has launched a counseling-based martial arts program called InSPIRE to help special-needs children in grades six to nine achieve and focus on goals. She and the program's instructor, Susan Martinez, will work out of the Princeton Center of Yoga & Health on Route 518. Abrahams saw a connection between martial arts and counseling when she was simultaneously working toward her master's degree in counseling at The College of New Jersey and her black belt in tae kwon do at Kang's Martial Arts Academy in Hillsborough. The project fell together almost naturally, she said. At Kang's, Abrahams met Martinez, who has two school-aged children with special needs. Martinez saw improvement in her children's focus and self-confidence when they practiced martial arts. Abrahams, 43, then developed a noncontact martial arts program with a group counseling focus, which was piloted at a school in Bucks County, Pa. "I saw how kids became more disciplined -- how they could take all of this focus and confidence and apply it more generally," Abrahams said. She has twice presented her findings at the New Jersey Counselors Association and once at the 2004 American Counseling Association 's National Conference. When the grant for the Bucks County program ran out, Abrahams decided to start her own practice. While she's willing to work in schools again, many instructors are reluctant to include martial arts in programs because of the reputation for hands-on combat, Abrahams said. But her program doesn't involve contact. Instead, it is highly focused on breathing and meditation. Counseling has been a longtime passion for Abrahams. She started her career as a New York City school teacher; she then took a job at Merrill Lynch's educational services division but was later downsized. Abrahams saw it as a blessing because it allowed her to focus on her counseling degree. She graduated from The College of New Jersey in 2003 and is now a counselor at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Raritan Township. Her 13-week InSPIRE program began last week. Abrahams meets with potential clients to assess their needs so she and Martinez can build a program around them. from the Courier News website www.c-n.com ******************************************************* Princeton Packet, March 15, 2004 Montgomery resident revising traditional methods of counseling. MONTGOMERY — Christine Abrahams is revising traditional methods of counseling for children. A Montgomery resident and school counselor at Hunterdon Central High School, Ms. Abrahams has created InSpire — a counseling-based martial arts program designed for children with special needs. InSpire, a 13-week class being offered at the Princeton Center for Yoga and Health, stands for integrating self-control, perseverance, integrity, responsibility and excellence — all of which are major themes of the class. The program, which combines noncontact, noncompetitive martial arts with group counseling, is designed for children in grades six through nine with anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, poor self-esteem, oppositional defiant disorder and lack of focus. "I think (InSpire) is more than just therapy, it's treating the child holistically," Ms. Abrahams said. "Whatever they learn from the program, they will be able to extend it to their life outside the program." Ms. Abrahams began pursuing a master's degree in counseling in 2001. At the time, she was practicing Tai-Kwon Do — a martial art she labels as "amazing." "I thought, how can I take (martial arts) and bring it into the field of counseling?" she said. The result was the InSpire program, which Ms. Abrahams began at the Bucks County Alternative School shortly after its conception. A sampling of participating students exhibited increased self-confidence and lowered depression levels. "One young man, after attending the unit on how to handle a bully, chose to get help when confronted rather than engage in a fistfight, which had been his usual response. He learned that he had choice," Ms. Abrahams said. A typical InSpire session includes a martial arts lesson with a master instructor followed by group therapy. Ms. Abrahams stressed all physical activity would be free from competitive sparring in order to focus on choreographed movements, self-defense, meditation and ethics. "I found that if you left (the sparring) component out, kids made progress in terms of self-discipline," she said. The combination of physical activity and group counseling makes the therapy more productive, Ms. Abrahams said. "You reach the student ... through various approaches and are providing a lot of repetition and modeling for them," Ms. Abrahams said. "I think the martial arts component acts as a hook to get the students interested and gives them a motivation to meet and overcome some of their challenges." Ms. Abrahams said she has chosen to offer the program to middle school children, because that is where the most impact can be reaped. "Martial arts can really help them feel strong and feel good about themselves," she said, adding that children of that age often have low self-esteem. The class sizes will be limited to 12. "I think it is very important for kids who have special needs to be in a small class," Ms. Abrahams said. The program may result in increased academic performance and the ability to focus, she said.. "It's more of a change in behavior, and I believe if your behavior changes, your academics will improve," Ms. Abrahams said. For more information about InSpire, call Ms. Abrahams at (908) 391-0073 or e-mail inspire@patmedia.net. ©PACKETONLINE News Classifieds Entertainment Business - Princeton and Central New Jersey 2005 ********************************************************** American Counseling Association Article -- 2004 Youth program 'InSPIREs' kids to believe in themselves By Angela Kennedy Staff Writer Not many people would think it best to teach martial arts to aggressive and violent students, but one alternative school in Pennsylvania took a chance and found amazing results. During a session at the recent American Counseling Association Convention entitled "InSPIRE: A Guidance-Based Martial Arts Program for Youth," presenters Christine Abrahams, Patricia Vommoro and John Kanabay gave persuasive arguments and provided good evidence that this kind of program can and does work. By combining therapy, classroom curriculum and non-combative martial arts, the program teaches at-risk students alternative methods to resolve conflicts and express differences. The program specifically targets elementary and middle school students with ADD/ADHD, attachment disorder, bipolar disorder, conduct disorders, depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder. The objective of InSPIRE is to ultimately increase self-control and self-esteem while decreasing aggression and depression. Abrahams was inspired to integrate martial arts into a guidance program when she, herself, took Kanabay's martial arts class. She was impressed by his ability to form a unique relationship with the children, some of whom were students in special-education classes. "I liked the fact that John provided incredible structure and discipline uniquely balanced with caring and compassion for the kids in his class. What I knew about alternative students was that they were sorely lacking structure, discipline and, in many instances, adults who believed in them," Abrahams said. "I felt that martial arts would be a wonderful way of helping these kids grow psychologically, emotionally and physically, and that John would be the perfect person to help implement the program on the martial arts end." She researched the effects of martial arts on "juvenile delinquents" and found some studies done in the late 1980s and early 1990s that showed martial arts programs had positive effects, if the program were non-contact and non-competitive. Although the evidence made her optimistic, she wanted to create a program that was all-encompassing. "I felt that there would need to be a more integrated approach to support the students more holistically and to make the administration feel more comfortable with the concept." She wrote a curriculum for the teachers and counselors of the school, while Kanabay worked on a martial arts curriculum that covered the white through orange belts of the ranking system. She then approached her professor, Vommoro, who also worked at the Bucks County Alternative School in Levittown, Pa., as a resident therapist. Vommoro agreed that her school would be perfect environment for a pilot program. Though all three faced objections at first, eventually they won the support of the staff and administration of the school and even the parents of the children chosen for the program. The tenets are the core of the program and its namesake: Self-control, Perseverance, Integrity, Responsibility and Excellence. "For teachers who would be teaching the five tenets of InSPIRE, we walked them through the curriculum and gave them a handbook that outlined what to do. Trish and I were running the groups that would dovetail with the themes of John’s martial arts classes," Abrahams said. "The classroom curriculum focuses on the tenets. For example, perseverance might be the tenet of the day, and we will have a story about perseverance and do some journaling, maybe even some role-playing," she continued. "I tried to combine a multimedia approach to each lesson. The group therapy will often have a topic to discuss, followed by worksheets, group activity or journaling." The students were in self-contained classrooms, so their teacher brought them to the cafeteria where the martial arts class was held. Kanabay would begin his class with a meditation exercise on a topic that would follow the objectives laid out by Abrahams and Vommoro. The class would then warm up and learn a specific form or move. The class would end with another meditation, reiterating the tenet of the day. Students with good behavior or excellent performance were rewarded with stars for their uniforms, and they would become eligible to test for the next belt level. "Usually, the day after the martial arts class, the same group of kids has group (therapy) where a classroom-related theme is discussed — trust, self-confidence, self-control, anti-bullying," Abrahams said, noting that during the week, their classroom teacher would deliver an InSPIRE tenet lesson. Because both students and teachers were knowledgeable about the tenets, teachers can reference them when a student is acting out. "Often, the teacher will consult with John when a student is not following one of the tenets, and John will have a discussion with the student," Abrahams said. "John is very relentless on his boundaries and what is expected from his students. They know they can't push him, and their actions may cause them to lose a belt." The program also offered a family group therapy component, which Vommoro headed. She met biweekly with the families who wanted to attend and worked on issues with the family dynamic. She provided structural, strategic and cognitive–behavioral family therapy, along with parenting management training on how to implement strategies at home. At the end of the 13-week cycle, the students are ready to test for the next belt level. "John takes a hard line on this and will not pass students who haven't learned what they should have learned or haven't worked hard," said Abrahams, noting that students must perform a demonstration of various kicks, stances and punches in order to move up in rank. Once the students test, those who pass are presented with their belts at a rank ceremony where the staff and parents are invited. She said that this is an emotional time for the students. "Some have a fear of failure and others have a fear of success. The beauty is that they get to work out these obstacles in a loving and supportive environment and are assured that the staff — including John — will work with them and not give up on them," she said. She believes that the program is successful because of the integration of the different components that support the student holistically. "It makes a huge difference because you are reaching the student and the family through different approaches and are providing a lot of repetition and modeling for them," she said. "I think the martial arts component acts as a hook to get the students interested and gives them a motivation to change and overcome some of their challenges. The kids think that they are going to be Jet Li or Jackie Chan — then they see it's hard work, but they are willing to do it with support. In isolation, the martial arts component has no reinforcement, so it works only temporarily, but as a component of a more complete program, it serves as the foundation from which to build and reinforce the other components." She encourages other school districts to implement the InSPIRE program because it is a low-cost way of providing creative character education for students. "This has taught me that with a little creativity and a lot of elbow grease, I could create something that would help kids deal with their present situations and hopefully give them the foundation of strong character that will last them a lifetime. It's very gratifying to be able to help kids get access to this type of program." Abrahams now works as a school counselor at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, N.J., but she continues to administer the program at Bucks County. For more information on InSPIRE, contact Christine Abrahams at inspire@patmedia.net.